The U.S. Secret Service said on Tuesday that at least nearly $100 billion had been stolen from the Covid-19 relief program set up to help businesses and individuals who lost their jobs due to the pandemic.

The agency’s national pandemic fraud recovery coordinator Roy Dosson said in an interview that the estimate is based on the Secret Service case and data from the Department of Labor and the Small Business Administration.

The Secret Service does not include Covid-19 fraud cases prosecuted by the Department of Justice.

Dotson said that although about 3% of the $3.4 trillion has been dispersed, the amount stolen from the pandemic welfare program shows that “the size of the pot is very attractive to criminals.”

Most of this figure comes from unemployment fraud.

The U.S. Department of Labor reports that approximately $87 billion in unemployment benefits may have been improperly paid, a large portion of which can be attributed to fraud.

The Secret Service said it seized more than $1.2 billion in its investigation of unemployment insurance and loan fraud, and returned more than $2.3 billion in fraudulent funds through cooperation with financial partners and states. The Secret Service stated that it has more than 900 active criminal investigations of epidemic fraud, with cases in every state, and 100 people have been arrested so far.

The U.S. Department of Justice stated last week that its fraud department has prosecuted more than 150 defendants in more than 95 criminal cases and confiscated more than $75 million in cash proceeds from fraudulently obtained salary protection program funds. And the many real estate and luxury goods purchased. And gains.

PPP is one of the most well-known programs created through the CARES Act of March 2020. It provides low-interest, forgivable loans to small businesses that have difficulty paying wages and other expenses during a pandemic-related shutdown.

The Secret Service stated that the focus of law enforcement in the early stages of the pandemic was fraud related to personal protective equipment.

Authorities are now prioritizing the use of pandemic-related relief because the federal funds provided through the CARES Act attract the attention of individuals and organized crime networks around the world.

“Can we stop fraud? We will? No, but I think we can definitely sue those who need to sue, and we can do our best to recover as much of the fraudulent epidemic funds as possible,” the Secret Service is responsible for the agency’s field. Assistant Agent Dothan said. Office in Jacksonville, Florida.

Complete News Source : Hindustan Times